Rufus Wainwright, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra make beautiful music together

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel music writer Piet Levy shares photos and his thoughts from Rufus Wainwright's performance with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts on September 12, 2015.

Perhaps no pop singer-songwriter demands or deserves the symphonic treatment more than Rufus Wainwright--a one-of-a-kind artist whose body of work spans from a Judy Garland tribute to a classical opera (with another on the way).

And yet, Wainwright's songs are inherently so lush, his gorgeous operatic croon so ornate, that adding an army of musicians runs the risk of overkill. And Wainwright's lyrics, too, can be very personal. How would he be able to establish a deep audience connection performing with dozens of strangers?

Ultimately Wainwright's collaborative concert with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Saturday, at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, featured several tender moments, and not once did the MSO threaten to saturate Wainwright's material. Thanks to expertly-crafted arrangements by Maxim Moston, fine conducting by Francesco Lecce-Chong, and the talents of 69 MSO musicians, the orchestral component made his ornate melodies more vibrant.

During "Tiergarten," atop a cinematic score straight out of '50s melodrama, MSO associate concertmaster Ilana Setapen's violin blended marvelously with Wainwright's voice, as if they had clasped hands and were waltzing together across a grand ballroom. And the addition of a noirish jazz trumpet set the mood for the beautifully morose and melancholy concert centerpiece "Going to a Town."

Beyond expanding Wainwright's musicality, the MSO enhanced the songs' emotional impact. That was most evident on "The Art Teacher," which has Wainwright singing from the perspective of a woman reminiscing over her secret girlhood crush for the song's titular character. "Never have I loved since then," Wainwright sings, the 2004 recording strictly featuring his voice and piano. Saturday's concert had the full orchestra, and yet the swell of strings and woodwinds and horns was muted--making the character's sense of yearning, and her regrets for neglecting to confess her true feelings, significantly more potent and painful.

Somewhat surprisingly, half of the 18 songs Wainwright performed Saturday didn't feature the orchestra at all. And while its presence was missed for some songs--like the buoyant "Beauty Mark"--the absence was understandable for others. "Zebulon" was written when Wainwright's mother was seriously ill--"My mother's in the hospital," he sings at one point. Saturday, he sang the song with such emotion, it was as if he was still sitting at her bedside--the erratic and gentle rhythm of his piano simulating a fading heart beat, the song's last word sung with the gravity and fragility of a final breath.

And for the final performance of the night--of his patented cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah"--the MSO instruments remained quiet, but at Wainwright's request, the orchestra's voices joined his, and the voices of hundreds in the audience, to sing the chorus of "Hallelujah...Hallelujah" again and again.

Performing alongside dozens of strangers, Wainwright established that deep and intimate audience connection after all.

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■While much of the evening was impeccable, it wasn't flawless, with Wainwright stopping "Who Are You New York?" midway to start from the beginning--although his performance to that point was far from abysmal.

■Additionally, Wainwright seemed a little bit off during some conversational moments Saturday. Struggling to remember the last name of Florence Welch from the band Florence + the Machine, Wainwright jokingly called her "Florence Henderson" (yes, as in the actress that played Carol Brady). He also talked about Milwaukee's German district, then, tongue-planted-in-cheek, backpedaled to reference Milwaukee's German restaurants. He did offer Milwaukee sincere praise, however, calling it one of the most beautiful cities in the country.

■Repeatedly discussing his accomplished career between songs--including an announcement that his opera "Prima Donna" will be performed at the famous Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires in February--Wainwright might have sensed that he was coming off a bit vain to this Midwestern crowd. "There may tend to be a certain pomposity or egotistic front," Wainwright said. "It's really a joke."

THE SETLIST

1. "Overture to William Tell" (composed by Gioachino Rossini; performed without Wainwright)

2. "April Fools"

3. "The Art Teacher"

4. "This Love Affair"

5. "Beauty Mark" (solo on piano)

6. "Maker Makes" (solo on piano)

7. "Vibrate"

8. "Sonnet 20" (solo on piano)

9. "Matinee Idol" (solo on piano)

10. "Who Are You New York?"

Intermission

11. "Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana" (composed by Pietro Mascagni; performed without Wainwright)

12. "Moulin Rouge" (solo on piano)

13. "Les Feux D'Artifice T'Appellent" (solo on piano)

14. "Tiergarten"

15. "Martha" (solo on piano)

16. "Going to a Town"

17. "Zebulon" (solo on piano)

18. "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk"

Encore

19. "Oh What a World"

20. "Hallelujah" (Leonard Cohen cover; solo on piano)

About Piet Levy

Piet Levy covers music for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and TapMilwaukee.com. For more music updates, you can also follow him on Facebook and Instagram​.